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Completing Your HACCP Plan: a Step-By-Step Guide

The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system provides a systematic, globally-recognized approach to reducing safety hazards in food production systems.

Use a HACCP system to control potential biological, physical, and chemical hazards that threaten the integrity of each of your food products. Each of your products or processes requires its own HACCP plan.

We take you step-by-step through the process of creating and filling in a HACCP plan template below.

Complete Your Relevant Prerequisite Programs

Every HACCP plan requires a series of prerequisite programs to complete before you embark on creating the HACCP system itself.

These programs vary according to the type and way you process food. They usually include items such as:

• Water and ice safety
• Food-contact surface cleanliness and conditions
• Preventing cross-contamination
• Maintaining hygiene facilities (handwashing, toilet facilities, etc.)
• Labeling and storage programs
• Pest prevention
• Allergen management
• Waste disposal
• Temperature control

These programs form the foundation of your HACCP plan.

Nominate Your HACCP Team

The HACCP system is a team effort, and your HACCP plan is only as strong as your team.

Each HACCP team member should come from a different department to provide a well-rounded approach.

It should also include staff from the operating floor. They add practical insight into the process and help identify any oversights. Including these team members also adds a sense of ownership to the HACCP process, which makes its implementation more likely to be a success.

Complete Your Plan Template

With your team in place, you’re ready to begin working on your HACCP plan template.

Complete your HACCP plan step by step using the following guide.

Tips for Writing Your HACCP Plan

To write your HACCP plan, keep descriptions accurate but short. Use straightforward, no-frills language. Your plan should be easy to understand and follow.

After your first draft is complete, review it and remove any information that’s not essential.

Write Your Product Description

Every team’s first task is to write a product description.

The description should be general and include:

• Ingredients
• Processing methods
• Distribution procedures (frozen, refrigerated, ambient temperature, etc.)
• Example of the label and labeling information

Describe Your Intended Use and Primary Market

Who buys the food and why? This section of your product description will provide useful information for determining critical limits later on.

Many foods can be described as catering to the general public who buy the food to cook it at home. However, if you create a niche product, such as dairy-based baby formula, then you need to identify them specifically.

For example, to write a description of baby formula, you might include that the formula is designed to be mixed with water.

Develop Your Commodity Flow Chart

The second step of your template requires you to identify the scope and the process or commodity flow.

Here, the HACCP team uses the product description, intended use, and primary market to develop a complete description of the production process from start to end.

The commodity flow diagram, or flowchart, simplifies the process steps. It doesn’t need to include fine details at this point in the diagram — that comes later.

However, there are some common oversights. Make sure that your list of process steps also includes:

• Intended delays
• Procedures that vary by shift
• Return of product to the process
• Any and all outputs from the product

Verify the Flow Chart

The next step is to verify the flow diagram that you just created. Your team needs to give it more than a once over: you should visit the site where the system takes place and walk through each step on the chart as you would during the production process (i.e., walk the line).

Your verification step ensures that the flow chart includes all practices and materials in the process so that you can identify every single relevant control point in the following step.

If the process changes across shifts or seasons, then your HACCP team should visit during each version of the process at a minimum. Multiple visits help to create more complete flow diagrams.

Remember: if your commodity flow diagram is incorrect, then your HACCP plan will be ineffective . Take the time to verify and get it right the first time.

Run a Hazard Analysis

With the process flowchart complete, your next step is to evaluate it for hazards. Examine each step you identified in your flowchart for biological, chemical, and/or environmental risks.

The hazard analysis will help you determine which steps in your commodity flow are critical in protecting consumers. (See Principle 1 for more information.)

Document hazard type, likelihood, and control methods on a hazard analysis worksheet. Be sure to note whether or not you have legal requirements for controlling each of the hazards you identified.

Use a second tool — the CCP decision tree — to help you identify the relevant CCPs.

Identify Critical Control Points

With your process flow verified and hazards identified, you are ready to use a CCP Decision Tree to identify the critical control points (CCPs) for each process step. You’ll find this explained in Principle 2 . 

A CCP is a point at which you must intervene to either eliminate, reduce, or prevent a hazard to an acceptable limit.

It’s important to remember that one CCP may control more than one hazard and you may need more than one CCP to control a single hazard .

In your HACCP template, fill in the first column with your CCPs. Place them in consecutive order.

Next, fill in the second column with the hazards you identified in your analysis.

Set Critical Limits for Each CCP

The critical limit (see Principle 3 ) represents the value (whether highest or lowest) that is acceptable for food safety.

If the values you’re monitoring fall outside of the critical limit, you face a greater risk to consumer health. Therefore, each critical limit should be as strict as any legal limits that apply to your processes, if not more so.

In your HACCP plan, fill in the critical limits column with measurable controls.

You’ll also need to validate your critical limits as well as monitoring and corrective actions both after completing your HACCP plan and periodically as long as the HACCP plan remains in place.

Identify Monitoring Procedures for Each CCP

HACCP Principle 4 covers the establishment of monitoring procedures for CCPs.

Monitoring is a planned sequence of measurements and observations that determine whether the CCP remains under control. It’s also an important part of recordkeeping and future verification.

Your monitoring procedure helps identify trends towards loss of control, which allows you to use the next step (corrective actions) to avoid deviating from the critical limit.

When you identify the monitoring procedures, you must:

• Nominate a person to conduct the monitoring (must be a specific individual)
• Determine what to monitor
• Identify the process for monitoring
• Create a process timeline (when it will be monitored, frequency, etc.)
• Nominate a person to audit the monitoring system

As you create the processes, you must consider issues like the number of critical control points involved as well as the preventive measures to be taken and the complexity of the monitoring.

Document all of the above in the monitoring columns of your HACCP plan.

Keep in mind that responsible staff needs to be trained in the monitoring technique and have a keen understanding of the purpose of the process.

Ideally, they will be in a position to provide unbiased reporting to ensure accuracy. Staff should never check their own work.

Define Corrective Actions for Each CCP

Principle 5 requires you to identify corrective actions for any problems that occur in each case.

Corrective actions do three things:

• Restore control
• Deal with product impacted by the loss of control
• Investigate the cause of the loss of control

In addition to determining your corrective actions, you also need to identify and note:

• Who is responsible for what corrective action
• What information must be recorded, where to record it, and who should record it
• Who  will audit the corrective action and double-check the data recorded

For example, if you work in meat production, then legislation is likely to require items like only admitting clean and healthy animals for slaughter and dressing.

Use the Corrective Action column in your HACCP plan to document critical procedures for controlling breaches.

Validate and Verify

Each of the plans developed at your organization requires verification and validation before you confirm them as ready for use on the floor. These are described in Principle 6 .

It consists of two activities. First, you verify that the HACCP plan will work as designed. This requires on-site work.

Second, validation uses scientific and technical principles to identify whether the HACCP plan offers the control needed for identified hazards.

The same rule applies here as with monitoring: validation and verification should be done either by outside individuals or team members who won’t participate in daily monitoring or data collection.

However, the initial validation step is only the beginning.

Your HACCP plan should also identify future verification and validation points. Both the frequency and method should appear in the plan.

In the verification column, record how you will stay on top of your processes and records.

Verification usually includes address these items at a minimum:

• Pre-requisite programs
• Calibration
• The HACCP Plan

Validation should occur at least once a year, and it may include items such as:

• Hazard analysis justification
• Support of critical limits
• Support for monitoring activities
• Support for hazard identification
• Support for CCP location

Verification and validation are important for all businesses, but they become critical for those monitored by governments.

For example, if you run a meat or poultry operation under the purview of the USDA, then you will find that USDA inspectors run some verification activities. Both programs are required by the USDA.

Identify Logs and Records

Finally, identify the required records and create systems that keep them up to date ( Principle 7 ). Both your team and regulators require this.

You’ll need to carefully record the key activities associated with your HACCP plan, including:

• Critical limit monitoring logs
• Testing and calibration logs
• Corrective action log
• Verification logs

Place all necessary recordkeeping activities in the final column of your HACCP plan.

Train your team to document and store their HACCP-related activities.

Without consistent paper or digital logs , you lose critical information regarding your product and, if a deviation leads to consequences, you may be subject to penalties.

Double-Check Your Documentation

To wrap everything up, bundle your HACCP plan template with the other documents relevant to your system:

• HACCP plan documents (HACCP team, plan template, product description, and product flowchart)
• Hazard analysis
• Explanatory notes
• Monitoring arrangements
• Validation and verification arrangements
• Policy documents (hygiene, monitoring, corrective action)

It’s helpful to keep paperwork simple. Then, it will be easy to read, complete, and keep updated. Each record should also identify the person in charge of that record.

Become a HACCP Master

Finally, your HACCP plan is complete — but it’s only as good as your implementation. Your HACCP system helps you monitor critical control points to prevent a slide towards chaos.

It’s important not to underestimate the value of verification and validation throughout the process as well as the importance of your paperwork. These are critical for regulatory compliance and certification. More importantly, they help you ensure that your system works as designed.

Use the following templates to complete your HACCP Plan:

• HACCP Plan Template
• Product Description Template
• Process Flowchart Template
• CCP Decision Tree
• Hazard Analysis Worksheet
• HACCP Plan Audit Checklist
• More HACCP Checklists

Don’t forget: digital recordkeeping and data management software can simplify your HACCP system upkeep and make compliance more manageable.

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We're a group of safety and tech professionals united in our desire to make every workplace safer. We keep a pulse on the latest regulations, standards, and industry trends in safety and write about them here on our blog.

This article covers:

Related blog posts, what to expect from the haccp certification process, haccp checklists to improve your food safety program, how to plan and manage a successful haccp system.

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Assignment #4 HACCP Plan – (30

Objective of this Assignment: To design a quality risk management HACCP system and control for quality in food production.

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What is haccp and the seven principles.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) is defined as a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. The goal of HACCP is to prevent and reduce the occurrence of food safety hazards. 

It is based on the application of scientific principles to food processing and production. The University of Nebraska has been providing educational programs and assistance to food processing and food production professionals since 1993.

HACCP training is for meat and poultry processors, food processors, and food service operators. UNL provides introductory HACCP workshops that are accredited by the International HACCP Alliance. For more information about upcoming HACCP trainings, contact Dr. Byron Chaves .

The Seven Principles of HACCP

HACCP is based on seven principles, which are the most important steps in writing a HACCP plan. The first two steps provide the foundation for the HACCP plan. The remaining five steps are the application steps of the HACCP plan and provide the structure for conducting the workings of the HACCP plan in the processing plant.

Principle 1: Conduct a Hazard Analysis

The application of this principle involves listing the steps in the process and identifying where significant hazards are likely to occur. The HACCP team will focus on hazards that can be prevented, eliminated or controlled by the HACCP plan. A justification for including or excluding the hazard is reported and possible control measures are identified.

Principle 2: Determine Critical Control Points (CCPs)

A critical control point (CCP) is a point, step or procedure at which control can be applied and a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels. The HACCP team will use a CCP decision tree to help identify the critical control points in the process. A critical control point may control more that one food safety hazard or in some cases more than one CCP is needed to control a single hazard. The number of CCP's needed depends on the processing steps and the control needed to assure food safety.

Principle 3: Establish Critical Limits

A critical limit (CL) is the maximum and/or minimum value to which a biological, chemical, or physical parameter must be controlled at a CCP to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level the occurrence of a food safety hazard. The critical limit is usually a measure such as time, temperature, water activity (a w ), pH, weight, or some other measure that is based on scientific literature and/or regulatory standards.

Principle 4: Establish Monitoring Procedures

The HACCP team will describe monitoring procedures for the measurement of the critical limit at each critical control point. Monitoring procedures should describe how the measurement will be taken, when the measurement is taken, who is responsible for the measurement and how frequently the measurement is taken during production.

Principle 5: Establish Corrective Actions

Corrective actions are the procedures that are followed when a deviation in a critical limit occurs. The HACCP team will identify the steps that will be taken to prevent potentially hazardous food from entering the food chain and the steps that are needed to correct the process. This usually includes identification of the problems and the steps taken to assure that the problem will not occur again.

Principle 6: Establish Verification Procedures

Those activities, other than monitoring, that determine the validity of the HACCP plan and that the system is operating according to the plan. The HACCP team may identify activities such as auditing of CCP's, record review, prior shipment review, instrument calibration and product testing as part of the verification activities.

Principle 7: Establish Record-keeping and Documentation Procedures

A key component of the HACCP plan is recording information that can be used to prove that the food was produced safely. The records also need to include information about the HACCP plan. Record should include information on the HACCP Team, product description, flow diagrams, the hazard analysis, the CCP's identified, Critical Limits, Monitoring System, Corrective Actions, Recordkeeping Procedures, and Verification Procedures.

• Guidebook for the Preparation of HACCP Plans , U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point , Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• HACCP Principles & Application Guidelines , Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

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Chapter 5 – Process HACCP for Recipes

Chapter Outline:

• Retail foodservice operations that should implement HACCP
• Food safety hazards
• HACCP as a food safety management system
• HACCP principles for use in retail foodservice operations
• Process HACCP

Learning Objectives:

• Identify TCS (potentially hazardous) foods that require time and temperature control for safety.
• Use HACCP processes to identify critical control points and limits in the foodservice system
• Describe how to use process HACCP to incorporate critical control points and limits in recipes.
• HACCP – Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
• TCS foods (time temperature control for safety)
• Critical control points (CCPs)
• Critical limits

The Food Code clearly establishes that the implementation of HACCP at retail (foodservice operations) should be a voluntary effort by industry.

If, however, you plan on conducting certain specialized processes that carry a considerably high risk, you should consult your regulatory authority to see if you are required to have a HACCP plan. Examples of specialized processes covered in Chapter 3 of the Food Code include formulating a food so that it is not potentially hazardous or using performance standards to control food safety.

Federal performance standards define public food safety expectations for a product usually in terms of the number of disease-causing microorganisms that need to be destroyed through a process. For example, instead of cooking chicken to 165 ºF for 15 seconds as dictated in the Food Code, performance standards allow you to use a different combination of time and temperature as long as the same level of public safety is achieved. The use of performance standards allows you to use innovative approaches in producing safe products.

What are the retail and food service industries?

Unlike many food processing operations, the retail and food service industries are not easily defined by specific commodities or conditions. These establishments share the following characteristics:

• These industries have a wide range of employee resources, from highly trained executive chefs to entry level front line employees. Employees may have a broad range of education levels and communication skills. It may be difficult to conduct in-house training and maintain a trained staff because employees may speak different languages or there may be high employee turnover.
• Many are start-up businesses operating without the benefit of a large corporate support structure. Having a relatively low-profit margin means they may have less money to work with than other segments of the food industry.
• There is an almost endless number of production techniques, products, menu items, and ingredients used. Suppliers, ingredients, menu items, and specifications may change frequently.

What are food safety hazards?

Hazards are biological, physical, or chemical properties that may cause food to be unsafe for human consumption. The goal of a food safety management system is to control certain factors that lead to out-of-control hazards. Because many foods are agricultural products and have started their journey to your door as animals and plants raised in the environment, they may contain microscopic organisms. Some of these organisms are pathogens, which means that under the right conditions and in the right numbers, they can make someone who eats them sick. Raw animal foods such as meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, and eggs often carry bacteria, viruses, or parasites that can be harmful to humans. (These types of foods have been labels as TCS, time and temperature control for safety, foods.

T he use of HACCP as a food safety management system

Since the 1960s, food safety professionals have recognized the importance of HACCP principles for controlling risk factors that directly contribute to foodborne illness. The principles of HACCP embody the concept of active managerial control by encouraging participation in a system that ensures foodborne illness risk factors are controlled.

The success of a HACCP program (or plan) is dependent upon both facilities and people. The facilities and equipment should be designed to facilitate safe food preparation and handling practices by employees. Furthermore, the FDA recommends that managers and employees be properly motivated and trained if a HACCP program is to successfully reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors. Instilling food workers and management commitment and dealing with problems like high employee turnover and communication barriers should be considered when designing a food safety management system based on HACCP principles.

Properly implemented, a food safety management system based on HACCP principles may offer you the following other advantages:

• Reduction in product loss
• Increase in product quality
• Better control of product inventory
• Consistency in product preparation
• Increase in profit
• Increase in employee awareness and participation in food safety

How can HACCP principles be used in retail and food service operations?

Within the retail and food service industries, the implementation of HACCP principles varies as much as the products produced. The resources available to help you identify and control risk factors common to your operation may also be limited. Like many other quality assurance programs, the principles of HACCP provide a common-sense approach to identifying and controlling risk factors. Consequently, many food safety management systems at the retail level incorporate some, if not all, of the principles of HACCP. While a complete HACCP system is ideal, many different types of food safety management systems may be implemented to control risk factors. It is also important to recognize that HACCP has no single correct application.

What are the seven HACCP principles?

1. Perform a Hazard Analysis. The first principle is about understanding the operation and determining what food safety hazards are likely to occur. The manager needs to understand how the people, equipment, methods, and foods all affect each other. The processes and procedures used to prepare the food are also considered. This usually involves defining the operational steps (receiving, storage, preparation, cooking, etc.) that occur as food enters and moves through the operation. Additionally, this step involves determining the control measures that can be used to eliminate, prevent, or reduce food safety hazards. Control measures include such activities as an implementation of employee health policies to restrict or exclude ill employees and proper handwashing.

2. Decide on the Critical Control Points (CCPs). Once the control measures in principle #1 are determined, it is necessary to identify which of the control measures are absolutely essential to ensuring safe food. An operational step where control can be applied and is essential for ensuring that a food safety hazard is eliminated, prevented or reduced to an acceptable level is a critical control point (CCP). It is important to know that not all steps are CCPs. Generally, there are only a few CCPs in each food preparation process because CCPs involve only those steps that are absolutely essential to food safety.

3. Determine the Critical Limits. Each CCP must have boundaries that define safety. Critical limits are the parameters that must be achieved to control a food safety hazard. For example, when cooking pork chops, the Food Code sets the critical limit at 145 ºF for 15 seconds. When critical limits are not met, the food may not be safe. Critical limits are measurable and observable.

4. Establish Procedures to Monitor CCPs. Once CCPs and critical limits have been determined, someone needs to keep track of the CCPs as the food flows through the operation. Monitoring involves making direct observations or measurements to see that the CCPs are kept under control by adhering to the established critical limits.

5. Establish Corrective Actions. While monitoring CCPs, occasionally the process or procedure will fail to meet the established critical limits. This step establishes a plan for what happens when a critical limit has not been met at a CCP. The operator decides what the actions will be, communicates those actions to the employees, and trains them in making the right decisions.

6. Establish Verification Procedures. This principle is about making sure that the system is scientifically-sound to effectively control the hazards. Designated individuals like the manager periodically make observations of employees’ monitoring activities, calibrate equipment and temperature measuring devices, review records/actions, and discuss procedures with the employees.

7. Establish a Record Keeping System. There are certain written records or kinds of documentation that are needed in order to verify that the system is working. These records will normally involve the HACCP plan itself and any monitoring, corrective action, or calibration records produced in the operation as a part of the HACCP system.

FDA endorses the voluntary implementation of food safety management systems in retail and food service establishments. Combined with good basic sanitation, a solid employee training program, and other prerequisite programs, HACCP can provide you and your employees a complete food safety management system. The goal in applying HACCP principles in retail and food service is to have you, the operator, take purposeful actions to ensure safe food. You and your regulatory authority have a common objective in mind – providing safe, quality food to consumers.

Managing food safety should be as fully integrated into your operation as those actions that you might take to open in the morning, ensure a profit, or manage cash flow. By putting in place an active, ongoing system, made up of actions intended to create the desired outcome, you can achieve your goal of improving food safety. The application of the HACCP principles provides one system that can help you accomplish that goal.

Check with your local regulatory agency

The FDA Food Code identifies TCS foods and temperatures necessary for keeping food safe. These include receiving and cold holding temperatures, minimum internal cooking temperatures for a variety of foods and cooking methods, hot holding and cooling temperatures. The federal food code is based on scientific evidence and recommended for adoption by states in the U.S., however exact temperatures can vary by states and health departments, so be sure to check the specific regulations in your area.

APPLYING HACCP PRINCIPLES TO RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICE

What is the process approach?

Since the early 1980s, retail and food service operators and regulators have been exploring the use of HACCP in restaurants, grocery stores, and other retail food establishments. Most of this exploration has centered on the question of how to stay true to the definitions of HACCP yet still make the principles useful to an industry that encompasses a very broad range of conditions. Through this exploration, HACCP principles have been slightly modified to apply to the varied operations found at retail.

When conducting the hazard analysis, food manufacturers usually use food commodities as an organizational tool and follow the flow of one product. This is a very useful approach for producers or processors since they are usually handling one product at a time. By contrast, in retail and

food service operations, foods of all types are worked together to produce the final product. This makes a different approach to the hazard analysis necessary. Conducting the hazard analysis by using the food preparation processes common to a specific operation is often more efficient and useful for retail and food service operators. This is called the “Process Approach” to HACCP.

The process approach can best be described as dividing the many foods flows in an establishment into broad categories based on activities or stages in the flow of food through your establishment, then analyzing the hazards, and placing managerial controls on each grouping.

What is the flow of food?  

The flow of food in a retail or food service establishment is the path that food follows from receiving through service or sale to the consumer. Several activities or stages make up the flow of food and are called operational steps. Examples of operational steps include receiving, storing, preparing, cooking, cooling, reheating, holding, assembling, packaging, serving, and selling. Keep in mind that the terminology used for operational steps may differ between food service and retail food store operations.

What are the three food preparation processes most often used in retail and food service establishments?  

Most food items produced in a retail or food service establishment can be categorized into one of three preparation processes based on the number of times the food passes through the temperature danger zone between 41 ºF to 135 ºF:

•    Process 1 : Food Preparation with No Cook Step Example flow: Receive – Store – Prepare – Hold – Serve

(other food flows are included in this process, but there is no cook step to destroy pathogens)

•    Process 2 : Preparation for Same Day Service

Example flow: Receive – Store – Prepare – Cook – Hold – Serve

(other food flows are included in this process, but there is only one trip through the temperature danger zone)

•    Process 3 : Complex Food Preparation

Example flow: Receive – Store – Prepare – Cook – Cool – Reheat – Hot Hold – Serve

(other food flows are included in this process, but there are always two or more complete trips through the temperature danger zone)

Long description: A graph with Y axis that goes from 41 degrees Fahrenheit to 135 degrees. 3 arrows are shown. The left arrow is labeled No cook and has a zero above it. It starts on the X axis, goes less than halfway up, then curves and comes back down to the X axis. The middle arrow is labeled Same Day and starts on the X axis and goes straight up and off the graph. The number 1 is beside it. The arrow on the right is composed of 3 separate arrows labeled 1, 2 and 3. Arrow 1 goes straight up and off the graph. Arrow 2 starts at the top where arrow 1 ended and comes down diagonally to the X axis. Arrow 3 is dashed and starts where arrow 2 ended. It goes diagonally up and off the graph. End long description.

A summary of the three food preparation processes in terms of number of times through the temperature danger zone can be depicted in a Danger Zone diagram. Note that while foods produced using process 1 may enter the danger zone, they are neither cooked to destroy pathogens, nor are they hot held. Foods that go through the danger zone only once are classified as Same Day Service, while foods that go through more than once are classified as Complex food preparation.

The three food preparation processes conducted in retail and food service establishments are not intended to be all-inclusive. For instance, quick service facilities may have “cook and serve” processes specific to their operation. These processes are likely to be different from the “Same Day Service” preparation processes in full-service restaurants since many of their foods are generally cooked and hot held before service. In addition, in retail food stores, operational steps such as packaging and assembly may be included in all of the food preparation processes prior to being sold to the consumer.

It is also very common for a retail or food service operator to have a single menu item (i.e. chicken salad sandwich) that is created by combining several components produced using more than one kind of food preparation process. It is important for you to remember that even though variations of the three food preparation process flows are common, the control measures – actions or activities that can be used to prevent, eliminate, or reduce food safety hazards – to be implemented in each process will generally be the same based on the number of times the food goes through the temperature danger zone.

THE HAZARD ANALYSIS

  In the “process approach” to HACCP, conducting a hazard analysis on individual food items is time and labor-intensive and is generally unnecessary. Identifying and controlling the hazards in each food preparation process listed above achieves the same control of risk factors as preparing a HACCP plan for each individual product.

Example: An establishment has dozens of food items (including baked chicken and meatloaf) in the “Preparation for Same Day Service” category. Each of the food items may have unique hazards (See Annex 3, Table 1), but regardless of their individual hazards, control via proper cooking and holding will generally ensure the safety of all of the foods in this category. An illustration of this concept follows:

• Even though they have unique hazards, baked chicken and meatloaf are items frequently grouped in the “Same Day Service” category (Process 2).
• Salmonella and Campylobacter, as well as spore-formers, such as Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens , are significant biological hazards in chicken.
• Bacillus cereus, and Clostridium perfringens.
• Despite their different hazards, the control measure used to kill pathogens in both these products should be cooking to the proper temperature.
• Additionally, if the products are held after cooking, then proper hot holding or time control is also recommended to prevent the outgrowth of spore-formers that are not destroyed by cooking.

As with product-specific HACCP, critical limits for cooking remain specific to each food item in the process. In the scenario described above, the cooking step for chicken requires a final internal temperature of 165 ºF for 15 seconds to control the pathogen load for Salmonella. Meatloaf, on the other hand, is a ground beef product and requires a final internal temperature of 155 ºF for 15 seconds to control the pathogen load for both Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7.  Note that there are some operational steps, such as refrigerated storage or hot holding, that have critical limits that apply to all foods.

The following table further illustrates this concept. Note that the only unique control measure applies to the critical limit of the cooking step for each of the products. Other food safety hazards and control measures may exist:

Chapter 5, Figure 2

DETERMINING RISK FACTORS IN PROCESS FLOWS

  Several of the most common risk factors associated with each food preparation process are discussed below. Remember that while you should generally focus your food safety management system on these risk factors, there may be other risk factors unique to your operation or process that are not listed here. You should evaluate your operation and the food preparation processes you use independently.

In developing your food safety management system, keep in mind that active managerial control of risk factors common to each process can be achieved by either designating certain operational steps as critical control points (CCPs) or by implementing prerequisite programs. This will be explained in more detail in Chapter 3. The HACCP plans that you will develop using this Manual, in combination with prerequisite programs, will constitute a complete food safety management system.

Facility-wide considerations in order to have active managerial control over personal hygiene and cross-contamination, you must implement certain control measures in all phases of your operation. All of the following control measures should be implemented regardless of the food preparation process used:

•    No bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods (or use of an approved, alternative procedure) to help prevent the transfer of viruses, bacteria, or parasites from hands

•    Proper handwashing to help prevent the transfer of viruses, bacteria, or parasites from hands to food

•    Restriction or exclusion of ill employees to help prevent the transfer of viruses, bacteria, or parasites from hands to food

•    Prevention of cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food or clean and sanitized food-contact surfaces with soiled cutting boards, utensils, aprons, etc. or raw animal foods

Food Preparation Process 1 – Food Preparation with No Cook Step  

Example Flow: RECEIVE – STORE – PREPARE – HOLD – SERVE

Several food flows are represented by this particular process. Many of these food flows are common to both retail food stores and food service facilities, while others only apply to retail operations. Raw, ready-to-eat food like sashimi, raw oysters, and salads are grouped in this category. Components of these foods are received raw and will not be cooked prior to consumption.

Foods cooked at the processing level but that undergo no further cooking at the retail level before being consumed are also represented in this category. Examples of these kinds of foods are deli meats, cheeses, and other pasteurized products. In addition, foods that are received and sold raw but are to be cooked by the consumer after purchase, i.e. hamburger meat, chicken, and steaks, are also included in this category.

All the foods in this category lack a kill (cook) step while at the retail or food service establishment . In other words, there is no complete trip made through the danger zone for the purpose of destroying pathogens. You can ensure that the food received in your establishment is as safe as possible by requiring purchase specifications. Without a kill step to destroy pathogens, your primary responsibility will be to prevent further contamination by ensuring that your employees follow good hygienic practices.

Cross-contamination must be prevented by properly storing your products away from raw animal foods and soiled equipment and utensils. Foodborne illness may result from ready-to-eat food being held at unsafe temperatures for long periods of time due to the outgrowth of bacteria.

In addition to the facility-wide considerations, a food safety management system involving this food preparation process should focus on ensuring that you have active managerial control over the following:

• Cold holding or using time alone to inhibit bacterial growth and toxin production
• Food source (especially for shellfish due to concerns with viruses, natural toxins, and Vibrio and for certain marine finfish intended for raw consumption due to concerns with ciguatera toxin) (See Annex 2, Table 1)
• Receiving temperatures (especially certain species of marine finfish due to concerns with scombrotoxin) (See Annex 2, Table 2)
• Date marking of ready-to-eat PHF held for more than 24 hours to control the growth of Listeria monocytogenes
• Freezing certain species of fish intended for raw consumption due to parasite concerns (See Annex 2, Table 3)
• Cooling from ambient temperature to prevent the outgrowth of spore-forming or toxin-forming bacteria

Food Preparation Process 2 – Preparation for Same Day Service

Example Flow: RECEIVE – STORE – PREPARE – COOK – HOLD – SERVE

In this food preparation process, food passes through the danger zone only once in the retail or food service establishment before it is served or sold to the consumer. Food is usually cooked and held hot until served, i.e. fried chicken, but can also be cooked and served immediately. In addition to the facility-wide considerations, a food safety management system involving this food preparation process should focus on ensuring that you have active managerial control over the following:

• Cooking to destroy bacteria and parasites
• Hot holding or using time alone to prevent the outgrowth of spore-forming bacteria

Approved food source, proper receiving temperatures, and proper cold holding prior to cooking are also important if dealing with certain marine finfish due to concerns with ciguatera toxin and scombrotoxin. Consult Annex 2 of this Manual for special considerations related to seafood.

Food Preparation Process 3 – Complex Food Preparation

Example Flow: RECEIVE – STORE – PREPARE – COOK – COOL – REHEAT – HOT HOLD – SERVE

Foods prepared in large volumes or in advance for next day service usually follow an extended process flow. These foods pass through the temperature danger zone more than one time; thus, the potential for the growth of spore-forming or toxigenic bacteria is greater in this process.

Failure to adequately control food product temperatures is one of the most frequently encountered risk factors contributing to foodborne illness. In addition, foods in this category have the potential to be recontaminated with L. monocytogenes , which could grow during refrigerated storage. FDA recommends that food handlers minimize the time foods are at unsafe temperatures.

• Cooling to prevent the outgrowth of spore-forming or toxin-forming bacteria
• Hot and cold holding or using time alone to inhibit bacterial growth and toxin formation
• Reheating for hot holding, if applicable

Implementing a HACCP plan in retail and onsite foodservice operations is not always required by regulation, but it is considered a “best practice.” The menu drives the type of systems that need to be implemented. Recipes for each menu item need to be standardized and “HACCP-itized” for each individual operation based on the flow of food, equipment and employees. Effective foodservice managers understand the importance of establishing a food safety culture and HACCP plan within an organization, and also how doing so will help reduce risks, control costs, and improve operations overall.

Definitions from the 2017 U.S. Food Code:

“Critical control point” means a point or procedure in a specific FOOD system where loss of control may result in an unacceptable health RISK.

“Critical limit” means the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or chemical parameter must be controlled at a CRITICAL CONTROL POINT to minimize the RISK that the identified FOOD safety HAZARD may occur.

“HACCP plan” means a written document that delineates the formal procedures for following the HAZARD Analysis and CRITICAL CONTROL POINT principles developed by The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods.

“Hazard” means a biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause an unacceptable CONSUMER health RISK.

“Time/temperature control for safety food” means a FOOD that requires time/temperature control for safety (TCS) to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation.

“Time/temperature control for safety food” includes:

(a) An animal FOOD that is raw or heat-treated; a plant FOOD that is heat-treated or consists of raw seed sprouts, cut melons, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes or mixtures of cut tomatoes that are not modified in a way so that they are unable to support pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation, or garlic-in-oil mixtures that are not modified in a way so that they are unable to support pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation.

Review Exercise 1

Review exercise 2.

Introduction to Food Production and Service Copyright © by Beth Egan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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7 HACCP principles - What are the steps of HACCP?

The HACCP system is considered the gold standard for measuring food safety.

Get your HACCP in 1 hour!

Create Your Food Safety System in 15 Minutes

• HACCP, or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, is a systematic approach to establishing controls for managing food safety hazards and risks.

A HACCP plan is made using a series of preliminary HACCP steps including building a HACCP team,  describing the product and its distribution, i dentifying the product's intended use and target consumer,  d eveloping a diagram of the process flow, and v erifying th e flowchart.

After meeting the five preliminary steps, your team must then establish the 7 HACCP principles that include h azard analysis, e stablishing critical control points, critical limits, monitoring procedures, c reating corrective actions,  v erification procedures, and record-keeping methods.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a systematic food safety management system and is the most recognized system for controlling food safety risks and hazards in the food industry.

The HACCP system is a food industry regulatory standard adopted by most developed countries. It is considered a critical approach to food safety. The program lays out the necessary risk assessment and appropriate controls to ensure that food business operations are safe and protect public safety . It serves as a basis for other higher-ranking food safety and food quality systems developed after its establishment.

Building a HACCP plan to produce wholesome food requires the efforts of the entire team of a food business. A comprehensive HACCP plan covers all areas of the food chain to ensure that food safety hazards are well-addressed and controlled for public safety. While food safety is the primary concern of a HACCP plan, it also helps a food business establish its brand regarding service and quality of approach to protecting customers from hazardous risks.

This article was made to give you a quick yet essential overview of the important points in building a HACCP plan and for its successful implementation in your food business.

In this article, also learn about our digital solution at FoodDocs for building a HACCP plan in just 1 hour.

In this article, we go through the HACCP system in detail with the following topics:

WHAT WE'LL COVER:

HACCP definition

What does haccp stand for, haccp process.

• What are HACCP prerequisite programs?

Five preliminary steps in making a HACCP plan

• What are the 7 HACCP principles?

What is the most important part of HACCP implementation?

Why is the haccp process important, who needs haccp food safety system, which special process requires a haccp plan, what is haccp certification, how else can you prepare to implement your haccp process, how to get your haccp done in 1 hour.

HACCP, or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point , is a systematic approach to managing food safety by analyzing potentially present hazards and establishing controls with a scientific basis for managing food safety hazards and risks.

HACCP is a food safety management system that aims to control hazards in the food supply chain a nd prevent unsafe operating conditions. It aims to protect public health from food safety hazards.

This food safety system covers all areas of food production, starting from raw material production and procurement up to product packaging, food manufacturing process, distribution of finished products, and consumption by consumers. It involves food safety management procedures that will help prevent your business from causing harm to public health and produce only safe products.

Learn more about the food safety system from our detailed article on HACCP's history .

HACCP terminologies

Here are a few short definitions of the terminologies used in this article:

• Corrective action plan . A detailed plan that contains contingency procedures in case critical limit deviation occurs.
• Control measure. Any operation done to prevent food safety hazards from breaching acceptable levels.
• Critical Control Point. A controllable processing step that is designated as the last step to prevent or control a hazard to a safe level before it reaches a consumer.
• Critical limits. Set of minimum and maximum acceptable values of a particular parameter indicating the tolerable levels of a hazard and is used as a reference to determine the effectiveness of a CCP.
• Decision tree. A dichotomous tool that features questions evaluating whether a control measure can be considered a critical control point or not.
• Flow chart . Is a basic visual representation of your entire processing flow represented by a diagram with shapes and lines.
• HACCP certification . An evaluation process that is conducted by a qualified auditor to verify if an established HACCP system is effectively working.
• HACCP plan (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points Plan). A written document containing the comprehensive hazard analysis, control measures, monitoring records, corrective action plans, activity of verification, and record-keeping tasks of a particular food business.
• HACCP program / HACCP system (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points system) . The implemented systematic system that addresses the potential food safety hazards in a food business.
• HACCP audit. A comprehensive evaluation of your HACCP plan conducted by a third-party inspector.
• Hazard analysis. The first process step in establishing a HACCP program involves describing the hazard and identifying its potential frequency of occurrence and damage caused.
• Hazard. Substances or materials that may potentially contaminate any wholesome food product and cause foodborne illness in customers.
• Monitoring procedures. A set of systematic procedures aimed to ensure that control measures are working and record the results as proof.
• Non-compliant product.  A finished product that has not passed the established set of food standards according to food regulations.
• Prerequisite programs . Are basic food safety operations and employee practices that aim to create the basic environmental conditions for working in a food business.
• Verification. Aspects of verification is a routine maintenance task that evaluates all validation records regarding the performance of the HACCP system and help in deciding whether the system needs to be revised.

See a full food safety glossary with definitions from here .

HACCP is an acronym for three of the plan's essential components.

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point .

Below, we go through the meaning of the five-letter acronym in detail:

1. H azard - Hazard identification is the first and main target of this food safety management system. Foodborne hazards are any contaminations that could be the result of inadequate processing, dirty raw materials or cooking utensil, or even cross - contamination in cooked materials . Potential hazards can be physical, biological, chemical, or allergenic and can cause severe health effects.

They are called food safety hazards because of the potentially unacceptable health risk they carry that could harm public health through unsafe food for consumption once they exceed an acceptable level.

The detection of contaminants at an early stage is key for safer food production in any manufacturing plant or food service in the food industry. Also, it's important to evaluate the degree of risk of each hazard and source of contamination to come up with appropriate direct control factors.

• Physical hazards are objects that can cause severe health effects upon contact, such as ingestion, choking, cuts, or injury. These physical food safety hazards can be in the form of filth, leaves, hair, glass shards, or pieces of metal.

Physical hazards may enter at any point of the food production system, especially with improper storage. Even packaging materials may be considered physical hazards when fragments fall into the food product. Food businesses must have standard plans for physical contaminants , such as glass control.

• Chemical hazard . In addition to food safety risks, contaminations include unnecessary chemical methods and the presence of unintentional adulteration. An example would be the detection of acrylamide in the product. This chemical by-product indicates exceeding the advised cooking temperature of products rich in sugars and amino acids, such as in cooking raw meat.

Acrylamide is a known carcinogenic compound that forms when cooked materials are heated excessively for a long time, such as in cooked meat patties or fries. These hazards include toxic contaminants from chemical control items such as pesticides, biocides, and cleaning agents, which can cause severe illness when ingested. Normally, this type of hazard is detected through analytical testing of ingredients for chemical residues. Chemical methods are essential for fast results.

• Biological hazards result from pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, yeast, viruses, and parasites that can cause severe illness. The elimination of pathogens is a critical control point with corresponding acceptable limits and requires extensive biological risk assessments and effects analysis.

Pathogens and the toxins they produce are the leading cause of foodborne illness in the food industry. Perhaps a well-known biological hazard or microbial pathogen is Salmonella in raw meat. Cells of Salmonella are addressed by the cooking process or thermal processing of raw meat of poultry to the right internal temperature with adequate time.

Other prominent pathogens include Staphylococcus aureus and its toxins, Clostridium botulinum, Campylobacter, E.coli, and Listeria .

• Allergenic hazards - food allergens are substances in food that can cause hypersensitivity or allergic reactions in certain persons. Extreme cases can cause anaphylactic shocks which can be very life-threatening. Their presence can sometimes be unavoidable; therefore, they must be declared on product labels. Common allergens include gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, and soy.

2. A nalysis - this aspect comes after hazard identification and pertains to the implementation of the evaluation part of a HACCP plan. The HACCP is a food management system that deals with all stages of hazard analysis and accurate identification of hazards that could arise from the previously mentioned list of hazards.

The analysis includes the assessment of the whole food operation from raw material production, food composition analysis, procurement up to processing, conditions of storage, shelf life, and consumption.

HACCP determines at which point could hazard contaminate the process and the product and whether they can be considered critical control points using science-based methods of analysis or not. The proper and comprehensive analysis builds a solid foundation for your entire food safety plan and will significantly affect its successful implementation.

3. CCP - the last component of the acronym HACCP is the Critical Control Points . These points are the controllable processing steps within the whole food chain that need accurate evaluation and control factors to remove potentially or naturally present food safety hazards or reduce them to an acceptable level. Critical control points require corrective action procedures and aspects of verification to support control measures to ensure the safety of food products.

HACCP plan is commonly mistaken to be synonymous with a food safety plan and termed singularly as the HACCP system . Both plans are considered food safety management systems but have a few differences. Where a food safety plan is only concerned with establishing preventive measures, a HACCP plan also requires monitoring and comprehensive verification reports . In addition, a HACCP plan is focused on monitoring critical control points, whereas a food safety plan is concerned with all other food service operations.

Building a HACCP plan involves several documentation processes. The conceptualization and successful implementation of your initial plan can span from 1 to 12 months, when using the pen-and-paper system, depending on the skill of your HACCP team. This duration can also extend depending on the revisions that you need to apply. Although some AI-based food safety software, such as FoodDocs, can create and implement your HACCP plan in only 1 hour just by based on your answers to some questions about your business.

No matter the executor of your HACCP plan, it is a thorough, yet critical process.

Three of the most critical phases of HACCP documentation are the following:

1. Creating prerequisite programs. This involves creating the most basic sanitary conditions and working environment fit for a food business through a series of management programs.

2. Going through 5 preliminary steps. A series of subsequent steps that aim to prepare your team for making a HACCP plan

3. Establishing the 7 HACCP principles. Involves a complete summary table from hazard identification and analysis up to the

All operations, control measures, procedures for monitoring, critical limits, corrective action plans, and other essential tasks must be comprehensively documented and stored in a HACCP plan for a successful implementation.

The development of process for a HACCP plan will start with common prerequisite programs , continue with five preliminary steps, and finally end with 7 principles of HACCP. Now, let's discuss all three HACCP documentation processes step-by-step:

Prerequisite programs

Prerequisite programs (PRP) in food safety are strategic systems composed of different operations that provide the basic sanitary conditions to operate in a safe environment for the production of wholesome food.

Before creating an efficient HACCP food safety system and implementing it, common prerequisite programs must be implemented to prevent loss of control. Prerequisite programs are the essential foundation of food safety and the HACCP system and are composed of basic food safety principles.

The process of conceptualizing a HACCP program starts by ensuring that all prerequisite programs and standard operating procedures are fulfilled and that all key food handlers have effective training on food safety and ingredient handling practices.

They are concerned with the hygiene, environmental conditions, and sanitary design principles of a business aimed at reducing the unacceptable health risk of potential hazards. Put simply, your company needs to implement prerequisite programs before making a HACCP plan. Some of the most common prerequisite programs include Good Manufacturing Practices and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures.

These prerequisites apply to any nature of the food business and are general requirements for employee practices, equipment design, and sanitary conditions for working. They also ensure minimum environmental conditions for food safety.

Some prerequisite programs are used as guidelines in building suitable criteria for food safety. These criteria include processing facility design with basic conditions and proper verification reports if they comply with minimum criteria for producing wholesome food for consumption.

Some of the most common prerequisite programs include:

• Standard Operating Procedures
• Effective pest control programs
• Effective maintenance program
• Water system management plan
• Waste management plan
• Employees' training
• Allergen management

Building food safety plans for a HACCP system takes a lot of consideration, time, and thought processes. Before even knowing what the main HACCP principles are, there are at least five preliminary steps for you to take. These steps aim to prepare you and your business for making comprehensive HACCP food safety plans. 

A HACCP food safety management system can be very product or process-specific and is more concerned with safety rather than quality concerns. This means that expertise in certain fields is required. Next , we talk about the five different preliminary HACCP plan steps in detail.

Five preliminary steps of HACCP

Step 1. Assemble your HACCP team

HACCP Team example

The first step in HACCP plan-making is to gather a group of individuals with enough expertise in the different aspects of the process steps and factors that make food unsafe. Each chosen member will be responsible for sharing their input on the potential foodborne hazards from their area and aid the entire team in establishing the identified controls. It is important to have representatives with knowledge of production, quality assurance , food safety, and food microbiology to avoid loss of control in any aspect of the process.

Some experts that are most likely to be included in the team may come from the engineering, production, quality assurance, sanitation, and research and development departments. Members do not necessarily have to be from the top positions. In fact, having your workers participate as a member of the HACCP team can benefit the program. The HACCP principles are based on preventing any potential hazard from happening during the different processes of food production. In-line workers see everything that is happening during any process step and can give very valuable inputs.

The team will be tasked to identify potential food safety hazards, analyze them, establish critical limits and standard parameters, create corrective actions for variations, monitor, and record these events. All participating members must have knowledge of what the potential hazards are.

Select members who also have experience in your everyday operations. In addition, your team may also include a third-party food safety expert who will guide your team in identifying potential hazardous areas through their expert advice.

Step 2. Describe raw materials, the food, and its distribution.

Example of product description

After building a HACCP team for a specific product, your food must be comprehensively described in preparation for the seven HACCP principles. List down all of the necessary food composition or raw materials, finished product groups, required conditions of storage, and the appropriate conditions of distribution. Describing your food means listing all of its ingredients with some of the derivatives it may contain and the manufacturing process for your product.

Your HACCP team must describe the general food group of your safe food product to identify any related food safety hazards. 

Knowledge about the product is crucial at this point. All ingredients must be mentioned and analyzed because some of their by-products can potentially become hazards in the wrong processing method.

Food groups can tell your team a lot about the produc t, such as when categorizing the food as a Bakery product. This tells you that the food item is made with wheat and can potentially be allergenic to some customers.

Listing the ingredients and characteristics of the product would also help the team analyze the proper distribution conditions for it . Food products such as ready-to-eat meals packed in lunch boxes have the tendency to become spoiled during distribution at elevated surroundings and internal temperatures.

Another example is when you categorize your food as a salad; it means that raw materials in this product group will require stringent monitoring of storage temperatures and quality control. Storing this product at ambient temperature will spoil it faster than in cool storage conditions. Maximum and minimum temperature requirements for the transport of such food products are needed to be declared as a control for safety.

Step 3. Identify the intended use and target consumer of the product

Under this preliminary step to the seven HACCP principles, the team will be tasked to identify the target consumers and those that must be warned to practice caution in consuming your product. Intended consumers maximize the economic appreciation of your product since they are most likely to buy it.

Contrary to intended consumers, those who might have any hypersensitivity to the product must also be identified. Vulnerable groups may include pregnant individuals, immunocompromised patients, the elderly, and infants. This step helps prevent any food safety issues under the HACCP principles.

Step 4. Develop a flow diagram describing the process

Example of flow chart diagram

To properly map out all the intended processes related to your product, y our HACCP team must create a flow diagram of your production scheme . This diagram does not have to be expertly made to look like an engineering drawing. It can be a graphical representation of a linear product flow. What is important is that all methods and conditions under each process are mentioned in a logical sequence for assessment.

This step will help determine which process brings a potential hazard with it. Under a good flow diagram, a potential risk must have a succeeding step that will help eliminate it or bring it back to acceptable levels. 

Here is an easy and FREE tool to build your flowchart diagram .

Step 5. Verify the flow diagram

After building the HACCP flow chart diagram, the last preliminary task is to verify whether all areas are covered through an on-site plant observation .

Visual observations such as differences in equipment or process flow presented in the flow chart diagram must be duly considered as these may greatly affect decision-making in the HACCP plan-making process.

Aspects of verification and initial validation activities do not entail additional documentation; rather, revisions of the existing flow chart diagram will only be done when inaccuracies are observed.

Once inaccuracies are observed from the verification report, your team must revise the flow chart diagram , so choose a template for flow chart that is easily and fully customizable from the start to save you time in the future.

An accurate block-type flow diagram is key in introducing the whole process to the team and identifying all potential food safety hazards. Inaccuracies in the diagram can cause unidentified hazards and potential loss of control over food safety.

Upon finishing all preliminary tasks and verification reports, your team is not set to create your HACCP plan. Expertise in each area of your food business will contribute to identifying and analyzing all potential hazards.

7 HACCP principles

After addressing the five preliminary HACCP plan steps and establishing a solid HACCP team, the 7 steps of HACCP can be fulfilled. Under these HACCP principles, potential biological , chemical , and physical hazards are identified and analyzed for their potential to cause food safety issues. 

HACCP Principles

Principle 1. Conduct Hazard Analysis for all your processes

The first of the seven HACCP principles is a two-step process. The processes involved in this HACCP step are (1) hazard identification and (2) hazard analysis. Under this HACCP principle, the team will list down the food safety hazards that are most likely to occur in relation to the product at hand.

Proper identification of hazards and their analysis are the most important steps in a HACCP plan.  Inadequate identification and improper analysis of hazards can increase the chance for product contamination and cause unacceptable health risks.

Hazard analysis is done for all steps of the production line to identify any potential hazards that may cause food safety issues.

Here is a step-by-step guide with an example below on how to compose your hazard analysis:

• List down all potentially hazardous points from your food processing under Process Steps. As there can be several potential hazards in a food system, your team must evaluate each hazard to determine their required level of attention. Identification of hazards must be guided by the process flow chart diagram.
• Include the accurate identification of whether the potential hazards are physical hazards (P), chemical hazards (C), or biological or microbiological hazards (M).
• Analyze the hazard's potential severity and the likelihood of occurrence through an effects analysis. Consider the potential duration of illness caused by the hazard.
• Provide a brief description of why and how this potential hazard can occur and cause food safety problems, leading to your decided level of risk and likelihood of occurrence.
• After analyzing every hazard, your team must provide preventive measures for each hazard, such as having a comprehensively documented standard operating procedure and proper ingredient handling practices. Loss of control over these food hazards can cause significant problems.

Under this HACCP step, the team must have considerable knowledge of the potential severity of hazards, the likelihood for consumers to be exposed to these food safety issues, the potential frequency of occurrence of each hazard, and relevant food safety laws. Accurate evaluation would need a lot of technical knowledge about the safe product, its behavior, raw materials, and potential contaminants. Some information may come from scientific studies or a comprehensive sequence of observations on-site.

Below is an example of some common food safety hazards and how they are analyzed in the process.

• An example of a hazard in cooking as a process step is when your team identifies that there is a risk of survival of any toxin-forming enteric pathogen from cooking, such as Staphylococcus aureus or cells of Salmonella. These pathogens are known to cause significant health issues but are very susceptible to any heat process.

When left uncontrolled with proper practices such as a cooking process, this pathogen and health hazard can potentially cause catastrophic food safety issues, such as severe health effects, and has a moderate likelihood of occurring as well.

After identifying these parameters, the hazard must be assigned with appropriate preventive control measures such as proper handwashing, a thorough cooking process, cooling at ambient temperature, and proper refrigeration.

• Another example would be the detection of physical hazards such as glass or torn packaging material debris. When undetected and uncontrolled, this physical agent can cause minor problems, such as injury to customers. This type of food safety hazard can be prevented by applicable standard operating procedures, including reviewing equipment design and glass control.

Hazards may differ from one operation to another. Simple differences in equipment can introduce new hazards.

The successful initial implementation of the succeeding HACCP principles relies on the accuracy of the hazard analysis stage.

Unidentified and unanalyzed food products could lead to potential food safety issues in the future. The likelihood and severity of each hazard would determine if it needs to be considered in the HACCP plan. A food service business dealing with both nut-free and nut-containing products, which are considered high-risk foods, must emphasize sanitation steps to prevent cross-contamination during production and releasing hazardous food to the public. On the contrary, they do not have to be concerned with temperature control fluctuations during storage.

Use FoodDocs' free template for hazard analysis that you can use for your HACCP plan-making process.

Example of HACCP Hazard Analysis

Principle 2. Determine critical control points (CCPs)

Next, every processing step must be clearly identified in your HACCP table, whether it is a CCP (YES) or not (NO). Identification of CCPs is a task that will help ensure the safety of your operations from hazards.

Critical control points are processing steps that are applied to the product to keep it safe and free from any health hazard. The most common CCPs are the cooling of potentially hazardous foods, thermal processing, and consistent maintenance of temperature for cooked food and ingredient storage, such as in hot holding foods . Other less common CCPs  include physical hazard detection, thermal process, refrigeration, chemical testing, and even some advanced testings such as RT-PCR detection of pathogenic microorganisms. 

Cooked materials and ingredient storage are considered as CCPs because improper storage of the two categories of food can contaminate ready-to-eat foods, which will only pass by the minimal thermal process before they are served. In this situation, conditions of storage between packaging must be considered a CCP.

Your business would consider these steps crucial if they control the identified hazards and must always be monitored if they are constantly met. Critical control points for products and processes greatly vary from one another. A practical example of a critical control point is the proper keeping of food temperature for cooked rice. Studies have shown that rice can be easily contaminated by the microbial pathogen Bacillus cereus, which can cause severe food poisoning as a result of ingesting its toxins. If rice were a high-acid product, this hazard would not be a major concern. As a solution, the critical point in this situation is to keep the product at low temperatures to control the levels of pathogens.

For every analyzed hazard that has been identified to cause significant negative effects on public health, your team must proceed to the development of process that will determine which operations can be considered critical control points to control hazards to an acceptable level.

A food processing operation must satisfy a few requirements for it to be considered a critical control point that will ensure the production of safe food products. To help your team in the identification of CCP from other food operations, the traditional procedure is to use a HACCP decision tree. Using a tool such as a decision tree for HACCP , your team will be able to classify if an operation is a CCP or not clearly. This tool consists of questions with a Yes or No answer that will arrive at a definite decision.

If you are not familiar with examples of decision trees, then our free tool is the perfect solution for you.

A CCP is generally known as the last controllable processing method to manage food safety and health hazards, such as hindering the multiplication of pathogens to unsafe levels through the cooking process before the food item reaches the consumer.

This HACCP principle needs careful and expertly guided considerations for a successful implementation. Process steps are considered a critical control point if the deviation from their established standards will cause serious food safety issues. In the food industry, the practice of using a decision tree can potentially speed up the identification of CCPs. A decision tree is a block-type flow diagram consisting of two questions that eventually lead to the decision of whether the process is a CCP or not.

Examples of CCPs

Principle 3. Establish critical limits

All succeeding principles will only be applied to operations identified as CCPs. After establishing which process steps are CCPs, all classified steps must be carefully analyzed and assigned with appropriate control measures. The succeeding principles will be used to ensure that CCPs are always in check.

To know whether a process serves its purpose in maintaining food safety, regulatory requirements must be set. In the food industry and the context of HACCP principles, these standards are termed critical limits. These limits are established based on scientific literature and are usually presented in numerical values.

It means that each CCP must be assigned a minimum and maximum allowable limit , which will signal to food business operators if the process is still safe or otherwise.

A good example of critical limits would be the minimum internal temperature for cooking foods. For cooking poultry raw meat, the food must be cooked to at least 165°F (74°C ) with specified heating times to ensure that cells of Salmonella and other pathogens are removed.

Below this limit, the dish may be considered unsafe food and cause severe illness when consumed. Some more specific critical limits may include information such as minimum oven temperature and adequate time to hit the target internal temperature.

Critical limit determination and criteria for food safety are established through the information available in related literature and food safety standards released by regulatory agencies. These limits are significantly studied to ensure the production of safe food products. If critical limits are not met, your business may face serious complaints from consumers and regulatory authorities as a result of severe food safety issues.

Critical limits may be values based on the physical and chemical measurements monitored in your food operations.

The Food and Drug Administration has listed factors that could be used in establishing critical limits and their corresponding preventive controls. These factors include correct temperature, time of processing, solid content, titratable acidity level, moisture level, preservatives, water activity, salt concentration, proper sizes, and others.

Physical contaminations are usually controlled by establishing an allowable amount of the contaminant in the food. As an example, rejection or acceptance of a shipment of sugar can be decided depending on the weight of sieved physical contaminants on a sample batch.

In some cases, metal contamination is assessed based on the presence and sizes of shards in the product. Maximum and minimum limits are set together with preventive measures for critical control points. 

Preventive controls come in different forms in a food manufacturing setup. For a business dealing with intermediate moisture foods such as fruit preserves, whose moisture level is around 15-50% to prevent any potential microbiological pathogen from spoiling the food. 

Examples of critical limits

Principle 4. Establish monitoring procedures

Non-compliance from established critical limits requires a strict monitoring technique. You will only know if your product has undergone the correct degree of processing if adequate CCP monitoring procedures are in place. The monitoring procedure serves as a tracking record for your operations as well as a written document of deviations that occur.

Clearly identify parameters that need to be monitored to ensure that food safety compliance is consistently maintained.

Assigned personnel, particular parameters to be monitored, and the frequency of procedures for monitoring must be specified in this step. These monitoring components are usually presented as the following:

• What - the parameter that needs to be monitored (e.g., internal temperature for cooking)
• How - the monitoring procedure involved in detecting the chemical or physical parameter. Examples of monitoring activities may include using a calibrated thermometer to check the temperature of a heat process or other physical and chemical measurements.
• Frequency - the required instances when monitoring is a must (e.g., for every new cooking load)
• Who - the assigned personnel for performing the CCP and monitoring task (e.g., staff/ cook)

A procedure's criticality can determine the required monitoring frequency. Continuous monitoring procedures are essential operations in maintaining compliance with food safety. Consistent monitoring can help detect critical limit deviations and allow food handlers to apply corrective actions immediately .

Example of monitoring procedures

The fourth HACCP principle requires your team to come up with comprehensive and precise monitoring forms that will be able to capture the important information needed for your food service operations and serve as control measures. Critical limits and appropriate preventive controls must be noted in the concerned monitoring forms for reference. Proper and effective training  on how to test for specific parameters must be prioritized in your business.

Monitoring documents can then be used for future reviews if improvements at any point of food operation are needed or if further preventive controls must be applied. Procedures for monitoring must be clear, accurate, and effective. Monitoring procedures will involve the use of documents such as cleaning schedules , calibration schedules , and cooking logs . Decisions and corrective actions will be based on what information is written on your monitoring sheets. 

Monitoring procedures must be fast as the results will be used for decision-making. Analytical testing is only used for verifying the results. In case monitoring procedures on a continuous basis are not applicable, a batch basis must be applied. Batch basis monitoring means applying examples of monitoring activities to a representative sample. The complexity of monitoring may depend on the number of identified CCPs and critical limits that need to be monitored.

Procedures for monitoring are often done through physical and chemical tests with backup monitoring techniques using microbiological testing. Physical measurement usually involves inspection of visual appearances, temperature monitoring, water activity, sensory analyses, weighing, and rigidity tests.

On the other hand, chemical tests can be in the form of titration or pH testing. Monitoring results must be fast and accurate because these results will be the basis for decision-making. Employees monitoring the products are often also associated with quality control.

Principle 5. Establish corrective actions

Despite having a preventive nature, your HACCP food safety program is not designed to be a zero-fail system . The loss of control and occurrence of deviations cannot be totally eliminated; rather, it is only minimized. This fact is especially true for high-risk processes. Although, frequent occurrences of deviations and risks would mean that modifications to your operations may be needed. 

To address deviations from the set critical limits, your team must establish a set of definite corrective actions that will bring the concerned parameter to safe levels and prevent any potential severe health effects.

To prevent deviations from causing harm and productivity loss from unnecessary food waste, your team must be equipped with the appropriate instructions for correction methods.

If in case maximum or minimum limits are not met in your processing, appropriate corrective actions must be taken. These actions are considered solutions to non-compliant products. The decisions may either be, but are not limited to, reprocessing, extended processing, or disposal of unsafe products. 

A good example of corrective action for a food safety program is when the monitored internal temperature during heating times is still inadequate. In this situation, the cooking staff must decide on the appropriate action, which is to continue cooking until the target temperature is reached.

Corrective actions are important in the effective implementation of HACCP food safety plans. They aim to minimize profit loss due to deviations and protect both the consumers and your food establishment from food safety issues. Deviations from critical limits may lead to the complete disposal of unsafe food products. This decision means a loss of profit from the used raw materials, time, and manpower. 

In addition to implementing corrective actions, documenting the actions taken and their results are equally important. This part of the HACCP principles will help trace the source of potential hazards or complaints which might occur in the future.

Examples of corrective actions

Principle 6. Establish proper verification procedures 

The HACCP team must also create plans for regular aspects of verification that will help ensure that the food safety plan is functioning as expected.

This HACCP principle includes the verification activities of the hazard evaluation itself, identification procedures, monitoring, and authorized corrective actions. Over time, operations will change as much as raw materials will. This means that the appropriateness of your HACCP food safety plans may also change.

The verification principle also ensures that the current HACCP system is being followed by the whole team. It also allows your HACCP team to reevaluate any food safety hazards that might have been developed and were not included in the current HACCP system. The verification process step must include procedures to help reevaluate the HACCP plan and update it according to new legal requirements for the improvement of a safe food production process.  

Verification steps usually come with food regulatory agency audits, which will extensively reassess the validity of the businesses' HACCP system. Verifications are especially important when new methods are introduced to the operations. Reassessment of potential health hazards that this new method of preparation may have is required by the HACCP system.

This procedure has three stages: Initial validation, ongoing activity of verification, and reassessment. The first validation is concerned with the first few days after the initial implementation of the HACCP plan. This type of verification procedure usually includes 3 months of food processing. Initial validation and proper verification procedures are performed by supervisors by reviewing previous records and performing on-site inspections.

After establishing that the food safety plan is working, periodic assessments or annual reviews and continuous monitoring are scheduled to maintain the integrity of the plan. Reassessment entails routine reviews of the whole plan to see if they are still following the HACCP principles after a few years of operation. Frequent reviews of your operations will allow your team to assess wh ether the HACCP system is working or not.

Example of verification procedures

Principle 7. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures

All food safety documents related to the HACCP system must be properly documented and filed.

A part of the seven HACCP principles requires record-keeping procedures for all important activities, such as the HACCP plan itself, the summary of food safety hazard analysis, monitoring program, deviations, corrective actions, verifications, and standard operating procedures. 

Your HACCP plan will also serve as a tool for traceability purposes should a food safety issue present itself and create an unsafe product. This compilation is also needed for regular audits to help your team assess if the current HACCP program is still effective. 

Because your operation is not expected to be perfect, deviations from the established standards will occur. Following the HACCP principles, corrective action procedures which have been applied must be monitored. Once these products are released to the market, there are small instances that consumers will be able to detect them. Your team can then use your records to verify if the product being complained about is part of the batch with deviations. 

Example of corrective procedures

Documentation of accurate records will serve as proof of whether the HACCP plan is effective or not. Include an executive plan summary table of your entire HACCP plan. Accurate record-keeping will also entail compiling other documents such as CCP monitoring records, employee training records, verification reports, and biological risk assessments involved with your HACCP plan.

Some of the most important records are monitoring forms such as a cooking temperature log , fridge temperature log , and thermometer calibration log . Complete documentation can help you secure a good rating for future reviews or certifications.

Where to get the HACCP plan template?

The best way to present your HACCP plan is through a summary table where only the most important information is added for accessibility and ease of understanding. Not familiar with this table? We've got you covered at FoodDocs. Use our free HACCP plan template as a reference and guide for building your own summary table.

Complete HACCP plan template on FoodDocs free tools page

Need a faster and smarter solution than a free template? Use our built-in customizable HACCP plan to get all sections done in just 1 hour. Sign up with us and answer a few basic questions about your food operations to get your digital HACCP plan now.

In making a traditional HACCP plan and implementing it, the most important part of the process is proper hazard identification and analysis . The team with direct control of hazard analysis must accurately perform the task.

Hazard analysis is the first step of HACCP and requires several hours of analysis as well as expert advice regarding the food production process. 

Failure to identify these hazards can lead to potential problems such as loss of batch products, more food waste, product recall, or worse, customer complaints. All of these problems can lead to a bad reputation for your business in the food industry. In identifying and analyzing hazards, in-depth information and science-based assessment for illness caused are important.

Based on the basic principles of HACCP, your products require very little end-product testing. The HACCP food safety management system is based on a preventive approach and focuses on all testing and verification during food production operations and almost none for finished products.

In making such a complicated and comprehensive document, several revisions and endless meetings are in your future. Not to mention the big chunk of time you will spend on rewriting your HACCP plan to fit any food operation as well as the local and international regulatory standards. 

To address these safety concerns, we have developed a digital HACCP plan builder . In just 1 hour, you can build a comprehensive HACCP food safety plan that is compliant with your country's legislation. No more long hours of meetings and looping revisions. We can help you comply with all of the HACCP principles and make a plan fit for your food business by just answering a series of questions.

Establishing a HACCP plan reduces the chance for product contamination and unnecessary risks to a company's profits and reputation . It also reduces the need for end-product testing in the production of wholesome food. Your approach to food safety is crucial for running a food business and serving safe food products.

HACCP was developed to address food safety risks and the sources of contamination before they even cause bigger problems, such as starting a foodborne illness outbreak from a processing facility. The principles linked to a HACCP food safety program lay out a solid foundation for controlling potentially unsafe foods from reaching consumers through sanitary conditions and even improving food quality to a point.

Food safety risks and hazards will always be present in the food business. As such, food companies such as food processing plants and food service businesses must use such a plan, or at least a related plan, to protect their customers from the severe health effects of hazards.

Food recalls were estimated to cost at least $10M in expenses, excluding the damage caused to the brand's reputation. This cost may even be higher for larger food businesses and food processing plants. This is something that you do not want to happen to your food business.

If you are a new food processor or an entrepreneur starting out on your business, the first food safety question that you may have might be, " Is HACCP a voluntary process?"

The requirement of implementing a HACCP plan is dependent on a country's food safety regulations and the types of food businesses. In the UK, all food businesses are required to implement a HACCP plan.

On the other hand, the requirement for a HACCP plan in the US is a bit more complicated. Generally, businesses under the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) must have a HACCP plan. This includes businesses that handle processed and raw meat and poultry.

Businesses handled by the Food and Drug Administration concerned with beverage and seafood products are required to have a seafood and juice HACCP plan, respectively as well. All other food businesses must undergo an evaluation to understand if they need a HACCP plan or not. 

In line with the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 , food businesses that are not required to have a HACCP plan must at least have a Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) system . This food safety system was established under the FSMA law, which covers a wider set of regulations on types of hazards and the nature of required preventive controls.

Different types of food preservation methods require specific HACCP procedures. Basically, any process that functions as a method to control a health hazard significantly will require a HACCP plan. Loosely speaking, almost all processes will eventually require you to implement a HACCP plan to keep public health safe and prevent any foodborne illness from occurring.

Under regulations implemented by the US Food and Drug Administration and the USDA, the following food manufacturing operations are required to have a HACCP plan or at least a food safety plan:

• Beverage processing
• Seafood and related products
• Meat and poultry processing
• Vegetable farming and storage

Under these industries, the following process operations and types of food preservation may need to be assessed under the lens of a HACCP process and its team:

• Pasteurization of beverages, including juices (high acid), milk (low acid), and other related beverages. This process ensures that the multiplication of pathogens commonly involved in foodborne illnesses such as E. coli, Salmonella , and Coxiella burnetii is hindered prior to packaging and distribution.
• Curing meats . To control the levels of pathogens in low-acid foods, some meats are cured with salts. This creates safe food products for human consumption by drawing out moisture and restricting water activity to remove the microorganism's source of nourishment.
• Addition of additives for food preservation methods. This aspect considered both artificial and natural additives, such as sodium benzoate for juices and vinegar for pickled foods, respectively. Additives work as a preservative by limiting the basic conditions for the multiplication of pathogens.
• Other thermal processing such as canning and cooking food . Some products, especially low-acid canned foods or other foods in favorable conditions for enteric pathogens, need harsher thermal processes for extended shelf life. The cooking process will serve as one of your main preventive controls for producing hazardous foods.
• Special process packaging . Such methods aim to inhibit the conditions favorable for the multiplication of pathogens, such as in reduced oxygen packaging. The lack of oxygen stops pathogens from growing. Included in such steps is ensuring the integrity of your packaging materials.

Below is a table that clearly shows which food businesses require a HACCP plan in the US:

Guide for food businesses that need a HACCP plan

A HACCP certification is the process of evaluating a food business based on the effectiveness of its HACCP food safety management system and awarding them a certificate of recognition as proof.

A qualified third-party food safety auditor performs the certification process. The HACCP audit consists of an on-site inspection and a thorough official review of documents to detect any cases of loss of control. All documents ranging from prerequisite programs such as employee training records to the last process for building a HACCP plan will be reviewed.

A HACCP certification process involves a series of inspections and frequent reviews, both on-site and documentation aspects, of your food safety management procedures. Certification for HACCP costs quite a lot and requires a big amount of your team's time, so you must ensure that you are always prepared for it.

As you see, a lot of paperwork must be stored and found on time for a HACCP audit. The easiest way to store all this documentation is to have a digital HACCP program where everything is stored automatically on a continuous basis and easily found. Yes, exactly like it is in FoodDocs.

Learn the basic conditions and in-depth processes involved in acing a HACCP audit and certification here .

The process of HACCP certification includes the following steps:

1. Get your HACCP plan done

2. Establish your HACCP system

3. Invite a third-party food safety auditor to review your HACCP plan

4. If the auditor finds everything satisfactory, your business will receive the certification.

In case your business does not pass the certification process, review all recommendations and immediately apply.

HACCP certification process

To ensure the success of your HACCP process plan, there are a number of preparation processes that you could make with your team to build a solid foundation for your system . These preparations can even be done before building your HACCP food safety plan to understand further why there is a need to emphasize the assurance of food safety and how can the HACCP food safety program address this.

Additional information and increased awareness of food safety issues can help you to create your HACCP process. To achieve this, you can enroll your team in seminars, educational programs, and training for HACCP . These programs can be an essential foundation of the HACCP-making process. They commonly contain information on the fundamentals of the HACCP process, including what hazards are, their common causes, and what are the most effective steps to control them. In addition, training and seminars must orient your company employees with their specific tasks and the importance of their roles in the HACCP process.

An option for making a HACCP food safety plan is hiring food safety consultants and specialists with expert knowledge of food safety. This option can be particularly costly even for only the initial review fees. There are a huge amount of training resources available on the internet for you to use. Depending on the training you need, you may find something for free or a reasonable price that covers all of the information you need. The most important premise of these training courses is to know the fundamentals of the HACCP process.

Remember to shop around when looking for HACCP training online, as you may be able to find some specific to your industry type. Certifications may also act as employee training records which may be requested by health inspectors during audits.

Using a digital solution

If your team lacks the time and has very little information on how to make your HACCP process work, try out digital solutions such as FoodDocs. We give you an easy-to-use HACCP planning option, especially if you are starting a food establishment and are unsure of how to set up your HACCP process. By answering a few basic questions, we use our built-in software to create your HACCP plan in one hour, saving you time and money and helping you to create your HACCP plan and set up your entire HACCP process smoothly. Beyond that, you can use the FoodDocs app to create monitoring sheets and record any audits you perform there, as well as schedule your team training and set up notifications for any necessary tasks.

A digital solution can be a great help when you are not used to the processes required , especially in monitoring. Our mobile app reminds you of your everyday tasks and can alert you if the observed values of your CCPs are beyond the critical limits. Get HACCP compliant in just 1 hour!

You can write your HACCP plan manually or through the use of support software. Previously, you only had the solution to write the plan manually traditionally, which meant excessive paperwork for your team.

The traditional practice of writing a HACCP plan involves intensely studying food safety news, regulations, and literature. Writing a HACCP plan manually can take you an average of 1 to 12 months to finish depending on the complexity of your plan and if you have knowledge of the essential foundation of HACCP.

You can significantly increase the progress of your HACCP plan writing by hiring a food safety consultant or seeking independent expert advice. Writing your plan can take only an average of 70 hours, but the cost can significantly double.

With the help of technology, you can now use software programs to generate a comprehensive HACCP plan template and be HACCP audit-ready. The whole process can cut the traditionally needed time to just 1 hour.

An example is the HACCP plan food safety software from FoodDocs , which uses artificial intelligence and machine-learning program to accurately create a detailed template for your specific needs:

Digital HACCP plan from FoodDocs

What makes a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan hard to complete fast is the idea that it must cover every corner of your food business and that this process must be repeatedly done for every process or food item . HACCP food safety management is often product or process-specific, making them unsuitable for other processes in your food business.

At FoodDocs, we offer a digital solution to provide you with a comprehensive and customizable HACCP plan template builder for the food chain industry. Our food safety software uses artificial intelligence and machine learning program to generate a comprehensive template for you.

Our system can generate your digital HACCP plan with ease using the following features:

• Easy-to-use. Selections can be done using an ON-OFF field. You do not need to type anything.
• Pre-filled forms. Our system preselects the forms according to the suitable local regulations of similar companies.
• According to your specifics.  Our system features  customizable sections of your HACCP plan  so you can further tailor it to your food operations and unique food safety standards, such as adjusting the complexity of monitoring procedures.

The process would only require you to answer a few questions regarding your operation, and our system can do the rest. Generating your HACCP plan template can be done in an average of 1 hour.

When you use our HACCP plan template software, you can get the following:

• Complete hazard identification and detailed analysis summary table based on the hazard matrix method
• Automatically defined Critical control points
• Critical limits for each CCP
• CCP monitoring procedures
• Corrective action procedures
• Verification procedures
• Record-keeping and documentation

What's more, our system also fulfills other HACCP requirements, such as prerequisite programs, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and other preliminary tasks that will ensure the safest and most solid foundation for your operations, including the following:

• Allergen management plan
• Laboratory analyses
• Water quality management
• Personnel hygiene practices and employee health management

This list is non-exhaustive, and you can get more when you sign-up and use our services.

Our system can help you create a HACCP plan 500x faster and 15x cheaper than hiring a consultant or creating it independently. You can focus more on the successful implementation of your HACCP plan.

Start your food safety compliance journey now and join at least 35,000 companies that have signed up with FoodDocs. Use our free 14-day trial and build your HACCP plan in an average of 1 hour.

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Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)

HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.

HACCP Principles & Application Guidelines

Dairy Grade A Voluntary HACCP

• Including Questions and Answers About NCIMS Dairy HACCP

Juice HACCP

• Including Juice HACCP Hazards and Controls Guidance - First Edition and Questions & Answers for the Juice HACCP Regulation
• Guidance for Industry: Juice HACCP and the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

Retail and Food Service HACCP

Seafood HACCP

• Including Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance and FDA's Evaluation of the Seafood HACCP Program 2004/2005
• Guidance for Industry: Seafood HACCP and the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

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Food Safety Education

College of the environment and life sciences.

Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points Principles

Introduction.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a system which provides the framework for monitoring the total food system, from harvesting to consumption, to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. The system is designed to identify and control potential problems before they occur. In its Model Food Code, the Food and Drug Administration has recommended the HACCP system “because it is a system of preventive controls that is the most effective and efficient way to assure that food products are safe ” (1999 FDA Model Food Code) . The application of HACCP is based on technical and scientific principles that assure safe food.

Currently, the food industry, including foodservice, supports the use of HACCP and its principles as the best system currently available to reduce and prevent foodborne illness. HACCP was first developed and used by the Pillsbury Company in the late 1950’s to provide safe food for America’s space program. Federal and state regulatory agencies have adopted the HACCP approach. Beginning in January of 1998, all seafood processors who ship their product across state lines will be required to have HACCP plans in place. Also in 1998, USDA began to require that meat and poultry processing plants have HACCP plans in place. Many state and local food regulatory agencies base their inspections on HACCP principles and may, in certain instances, require HACCP plans for specific food items. Food safety educators now use the principles of HACCP as the basis for their educational programs.

HACCP consists of seven steps used to monitor food as it flows through the establishment, whether it be a food processing plant or foodservice operation. The seven steps of the HACCP system address the analysis and control of biological, chemical and physical hazards.

In August of 1997, the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods adopted new recommendations on “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Principles and Application Guidelines.” These guidelines are designed to facilitate the development and implementation of effective HACCP plans. The new recommendations are reflected in this document. For more information on HACCP principles, in particular formal HACCP, contact your local extension educator. Also, the reference list includes several excellent resources on HACCP.

HACCP Terminology

Critical Control Point (CCP)  – A procedure/practice (control) in food handling/preparation that will reduce, eliminate or prevent hazards. It is a “kill” step that kills microorganisms or a control step that prevents or slows their growth.

Hazard  – Unacceptable contamination, microbial growth, persistence of toxins or survival of microorganisms that are of a concern to food safety.

Monitoring  – Checking to determine if the criteria established by the critical control point(s) (CCP) have been achieved.

Risk  – Probability that a condition(s) will lead to a hazard.

Severity  – Seriousness of the consequences of the results of a hazard.

Practical HACCP Principles

Practical HACCP principles adapt the seven HACCP steps into a form that is easily applied in a non commercial setting. The seven steps deal with the issues of thorough cooking and cooling which are the major causes of foodborne illness.

In order for this simplified, focused application of HACCP principles to be effective in reducing the risk of foodborne illness,  Standard Operating Procedures  (SOP’s) of personal hygiene, basic sanitation and food storage must be developed and adhered to. The SOP’s should be developed, taking into consideration the types of foods that will be prepared during the foods labs, the number of students involved in the food preparation activity and the type of equipment to be used. The SOP’s can be listed in the form of a checklist, which can be checked off as each item is accomplished.

Formal HACCP Seven Steps

1. Conduct a hazardous analysis. The purpose of a hazardous analysis is to develop a list of hazards which are likely to cause injury or illness if they are not controlled. Points to be considered in this analysis can include: skill level of employees; transport of food; serving elderly, sick, very young children, immune-compromised; volume cooling; thawing of potentially hazardous foods; high degree of food handling and contact; adequacy of preparation and holding equipment available; storage, and method of preparation. The next step is to determine if the factors may influence the likely occurrence and severity of the hazard being controlled. Finally, the hazards associated with each step in the flow of food should be listed along with the measures necessary to control the hazard.

2. Determine Critical Control Points (CCP’s) A critical control point is any step in which hazards can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels. CCP’s are usually practices/procedures which, when not done correctly, are the leading causes of foodborne illness outbreaks. Examples of critical control points include: cooking, cooling, re-heating, holding. To determine CCP’s ask the following questions:

• At this step in preparation can food become contaminated and/or can contamination increase?
• Can this hazard be prevented through corrective action(s)?
• Can this hazard be prevented, eliminated or reduced by steps taken later in the preparation process?
• Can you monitor the CCP?
• How will you measure the CCP?
• Can you document the CCP

3. Establish Critical Limits A critical limit ensures that a biological, chemical or physical hazard is controlled by a CCP. Each CCP should have at least one critical limit. Critical limits must be something that can be monitored by measurement or observation. They must be scientifically and/or regulatory based. Examples include: temperature, time, pH, water activity or available chlorine.

4. Establish Monitoring Procedures Monitoring is a plan which includes observations or measurements to assess whether the CCP is being met. It provides a record of the “flow of food” through the establishment. If monitoring indicates that the critical limits are not being met, then an action must be taken to bring the process back into control. The monitoring system should be easy to use and meet the needs of the food establishment, as well as the regulatory authority. It is important that the job of monitoring be assigned to a specific individual and they be trained on the monitoring technique.

5. Establish Corrective Actions If the criteria for a CCP is not being met, some type of corrective action must be taken. They must meet the standards established in Step 3, must be based on facts for normal working conditions and be measurable. Corrective actions may range, for example, from “continue cooking until the established temperature is reached” to “throw out the product,” depending on the severity of the situation.

HACCP plans should include the following: who is responsible for implementing the corrective action and what corrective action was taken. They should be established in advance as part of the HACCP plan.

6. Establish verification procedures These procedures are activities, other than monitoring, that determine the validity of the HACCP plan and that the system is operating according to the plan. An important aspect of verification is to determine if the plan is scientifically and technically sound. Also, that all the hazards have been identified and that, if the HACCP plan is properly implemented, these hazards can be effectively controlled. Verification can be accomplished by expert advice and scientific studies and observations of the flow of food, measurements and evaluations. Another means of verification is an on site review of the established critical limits. Each CCP will have one independent authority. This verification step provides an opportunity to make modifications to the plan if necessary.

7. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures Record-keeping and documentation procedures should be simple to complete and include information that illustrates that the established standards are being met. Employees need to be trained on the record-keeping procedures and why it is a critical part of their job. Examples of records include time/temperature logs, checklists, forms, flowcharts, employee training records, and SOP’s.

(“Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point Principles and Application Guidelines”, Adopted August 14, 1997, National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods)

Practical HACCP Seven Steps

1. Review menu and highlight potentially hazardous foods

2. Review recipes that include potentially hazardous foods and highlight problem ingredients.

3. Include critical temperatures and times in the recipes/procedures. Use  critical temperatures established by USDA  for consumer use. (Note critical temperatures may be somewhat different for the food industry and are based on state/federal regulations.)

4. Check food temperatures during preparation, holding, cooking and cooling. Food temperatures should be checked using a bi-metallic food thermometer. Remember, when cooling food, time is critical. The food needs to be cooled to 40° F in no more than two hours.

5. Correct if required temperatures are not being met. Specific steps to be taken should be previously established and could be included in SOP’s. For example, when roasting a chicken, if at the end of the prescribed cooking time, if the temperature has not reached 180°F, the correction is to continue cooking until that temperature is reached. However, in some cases, the “correction” may involve throwing the food item away because throughout the preparation process, the food may have been mishandled.

6. Verify that the previous steps are being followed.

• Review plan
• Review deviations and corrections
• Visual inspection

7. Record time and temperatures. A system for recording temperatures should be developed. This system can be in the form of a notebook or charts that includes the intervals at which the temperatures should be taken and recorded.

Revised 5/00 University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension Food Safety Education

Copyright © 2024 University of Rhode Island.

• Health Science

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HACCP Plan Example- A Step by Step Guide to Food Safety

Debdutta Bhattacharjee

What is haccp plan example ? HACCP is an acronym for hazard analysis and critical control points. This is a food safety management system designed to ensure that the risk of foodborne illnesses and food contamination is reduced. HACCP plans are mandatory for all companies that handle meat, poultry, fish and eggs. These plans outline how you will handle the risks associated with your products, from production to distribution.

What is a HACCP Plan?

One in every six people in the US suffers from domestically-acquired foodborne illnesses every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Foodborne pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites, and a host of unspecified agents) are indeed some of the major contributors of disease in the US, and the CDC study adds that foodborne illnesses result in nearly 130,000 hospitalizations and more than 3,000 deaths every year in the country. The coronavirus, which has been on the rampage for the past two years, has queered the pitch further. Ensuring food safety, therefore, should be the topmost priority for any foodservice business, not only to safeguard customer health and its own brand image but also to avoid penal action. In this regard, one of the key food safety standards that restaurants must follow is the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). It is a globally-recognized system that seeks to ensure the safety of food through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, or physical risks at every stage of the food chain, right from production, procurement, and handling of raw materials, to preparation, distribution, and consumption of the finished products. Now, to put the HACCP protocols into practice, a restaurant has to have a HACCP Plan ready. The HACCP Plan involves assembling a HACCP team, describing the product, identifying the expected use of the product, developing a commodity flow diagram, and verifying the flow diagram on-site. A HACCP Plan may be product-or process-specific. Alternatively, it may use a unit operations approach. After these preliminary tasks are completed, the HACCP Plan calls for the application of the seven HACCP principles, such as conducting a hazard analysis, determining critical control points, establishing critical limits, and so on. Apart from a diligent implementation of HACCP Plans, restaurants would be well-served to educate their staff about safe food preparation and handling methods, including separating raw and cooked food, properly washing cutting boards, and so on. They should also inculcate a food safety culture among their employees and managers, and conduct regular audits.

Common Food Safety Hazards in a Restaurant

1. Biological hazards- These are made up of bacteria, viruses, parasites, yeast, and molds. 2. Chemical hazards- These include cleaning agents, insecticides, pesticides, food additives, and so on. 3. Physical hazards- These may include pieces of glass, jewelry, packaging material, human hair, animal fur and feather, pest droppings, and dead insects. 4. Allergens- These refer to substances that may cause an allergic reaction. The presence of allergens would render the food unsafe, and cause the food to be recalled. For example, earlier in March, Torn & Glasser announced the recall of Sprouts Farmer Market dark chocolate-covered cherries as the product was found to contain undeclared almonds. People who are highly sensitive/allergic to almonds could have faced serious or life-threatening reactions had they consumed this product. Inadequate attention to the HACCP prerequisite programs can make food unfit for consumption. For instance, the servers and cooks not being mindful of personal hygiene, or poor pest control measures would invariably make food unsafe and hazardous.

Food safety is not something you can take lightly, especially in the food industry.

Implementing a HACCP plan says your business prioritizes food safety. This article helps you create one.

How Can a HACCP Plan Ward Off Food Safety Hazards?

The HACCP food management system puts emphasis on personal hygiene, keeping raw and cooked food products separate, sanitization of surfaces, and sticking to a safe minimum internal temperature. The HACCP system looks to preempt food poisoning, and also prescribes corrective measures if food hazards do creep in. By being HACCP-compliant a restaurant is able to be in control of food safety requirements at every step of the food chain and ensure Disease Control . The HACCP system lets a foodservice business identify critical control points at which intervention must be made to ensure food safety. For instance, a restaurant employee handling food products must be mindful of the temperature Danger Zone for that product. This allows the restaurant to fix consistent standards of food preparation and handling and also affords the scope of monitoring and corrective measures if the actual processes deviate from the norm. Food businesses, by strictly following the HACCP guidelines, are able to convince their customers that the food they serve is free from biological, physical, and chemical contaminants, and also, allergens. They are able to assure the customers that all safety prerequisites are adhered to, and their employees carefully wash their hands, wear gloves and aprons, wash their cutting boards properly, and all products are stored under proper sanitary conditions, among other things. It would show that the restaurant is committed to the cause of public health. Guesswork is taken out of the food safety management system with HACCP principles, prerequisite programs, and HACCP Plans in place and being continuously documented. Food businesses, in this regard, would be well-served by the use of modern technology like the Zip HACCP software, which is available on the Hubworks restaurant app store. Zip HACCP enables the monitoring of vital food safety tasks in real-time.

7 Principles That Are Part of a HACCP Plan

1. Conduct hazard analysis- This seeks to develop a list of hazards that are reasonably likely to occur and cause illness if not properly controlled. For instance, Salmonella may enter a cooked chicken dish due to cross-contamination with raw meat. Other potential hazards could be detergent or pieces of broken glass in uncovered food. 2. Determine the Critical Control Points (CCPs)- These are located at every stage where risks can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to acceptable levels. An example is the heat process at a specific time and temperature for killing a particular microbiological pathogen. 3. Establish critical limits- These is the actual minimum/maximum level to which a biological, chemical or physical parameter should be controlled. According to the 2001 FDA Food Code, for example, the critical limit when cooking pork chops is 145-degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds. 4. Establish monitoring procedures- This entails a set of measurements to keep a watch over parameters like temperature and time. It tracks the functioning of a foodservice business in terms of the standards of food safety, decides whether a loss of control occurs at a CCP, and also generates records that can be subsequently used for verification purposes. 5. Establish corrective actions- These become necessary in case of deviations from the standard procedures. Corrective action is aimed at stopping contaminated food from reaching consumers. If, for example, the temperature inside a refrigerator goes haywire due to a technical glitch, the food must be discarded and the refrigerator repaired. 6. Establish verification procedures- These procedures become necessary for determining the validity of the HACCP Plan and seeing if the system is working according to the plan. 7. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures- Proper documentation and record-keeping help a restaurant in proving that the food was prepared and handled in accordance with all the food safety protocols. Records kept as part of the HACCP system include information on the HACCP Plan, Hazard Analysis , critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification procedures, schedules, and so on.

12 Steps to an Effective HACCP Plan

1. Build a HACCP team- The HACCP team should determine at the outset the scope of its activities - whether it is to deal with the entire commodity system or a part of it. This team should comprise people from different areas of expertise. There should be a specialist who has a detailed understanding of the commodity system. There should also be specialists who can make sense of specific hazards and the problems that those hazards could cause. Accordingly, a HACCP team should include microbiologists, toxicologists, mycotoxicologists, chemists, quality control managers, and process engineers. Individuals like raw material buyers, packaging specialists, distribution or production staff, farmers, and brokers, who are involved in various processes in the food supply chain may also be incorporated into the team to provide relevant and valuable knowledge and experience. The team must be held together by a leader, who should direct the team and ensure that the HACCP concept is effectively put into practice. 2. Define and describe the product- The HACCP team must have the fullest knowledge of the product it is dealing with in order to do a thorough hazard analysis. Therefore, the product description should include information on the product's composition, physical and chemical properties, mycotoxin regulation/target level, the amount of water available for the growth of microbes, and pH value. Information should also be provided on how the product must be packaged, stored, and transported, along with its shelf life and recommended storage temperatures. Labeling information would add to the knowledge about the product. 3. Determine the product's intended use- It should be amply clear if the product is to be consumed directly, processed further, or cooked. The intended consumers of the product also have to be identified. They can either be the general public, or vulnerable sections like infants, immunocompromised individuals, malnourished individuals, or the elderly. The possible misuse of a product, for instance, the use of pet food for humans accidentally, must also be considered. 4. Prepare a commodity flow diagram- An in-depth commodity flow diagram should be prepared with the help of a commodity specialist. Commodity systems may vary in terms of detail between different countries and even within a country. The diagram should be an uncomplicated outline of steps involved in the processes that are directly under the control of the establishment. The flow diagram may also include steps in the food chain that precede or succeed the processing in the establishment. 5. On-site verification of the flow diagram- The HACCP team needs to conduct an on-site review of the operations to check the completeness of the commodity flow diagram. Changes may be made to the diagram as necessary, which are then duly documented. Once these initial tasks are completed, the HACCP Plan can be given completeness by applying the seven HACCP principles mentioned in the preceding section to specific products and processes.

You know you need to set up a HACCP plan, but you’re not quite sure how to go about it.

This guide will walk you through the 12 steps of setting up a HACCP plan so you can secure your restaurant completely.

How the HACCP System Can Save Your Business Money

1. Customers would keep coming back to a restaurant that they believe serves safe food. The brand image of a HACCP-compliant and HACCP-certified food business would rise significantly among the customers, and more customers would mean brisker business. 2. Food safety laws are pretty strict in the US and the biggest threats for a business that neglects food safety protocols are government penalties and litigation. Legal battles can be extremely costly, lead to customer backlash and cause the reputation of the business to suffer irreparable damage. Customer dissatisfaction would in turn lead to lesser and lesser revenues. Plus, the government fines can be quite hefty. Following the HACCP norms diligently would protect the business from such loss of money, and allow it to prove its case if it does have to get into legal fights. 3. Food prepared in keeping with safety norms would also mean that the food quality would be significantly enhanced. For instance, cooking at the right internal Food Temperature would ensure that the food is neither undercooked nor overcooked. In this regard, the Blu 2 Bluetooth food temperature monitor, which can be connected to the Zip HACCP application, comes in handy. The Blu 2 probe is available on the Hubworks app store. 4. By clearly laying down the Food Safety norms, and providing specifications for all products, ingredients, and packaging materials in written form, the HACCP Food Management system ensures that employee efficiency is increased. It also makes sure that downtime is reduced. Efficient employees would be able to provide better customer service, contribute to customer satisfaction, and add to the company's bottom line.

HACCP System FAQs

1. Do I need to review my HACCP Plan when it is complete? The HACCP Plan must be up to date. Yes, it should be periodically reviewed, more so when something in the food operation changes. For instance, if your business starts hot holding food, the HACCP Plan has to be updated to take this additional step into account. 2. Is the HACCP program new? No. HACCP was first used in the 1960s. HACCP guidelines were used by the Pillsbury Company to prepare safe and high-quality food for astronauts. The National Academy of Sciences, the National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Foods, and the Codex Alimentarius have all endorsed HACCP. 3. Can consumers make use of HACCP? It is indeed possible to implement HACCP-like practices at home. One simply needs to follow proper storage, handling, cleaning, and cooking procedures. For instance, one should properly refrigerate meat and poultry products, keep raw and cooked meals separate, thoroughly cook meat and poultry products, and refrigerate leftovers to prevent bacterial growth. 4. How does microbiological testing help in HACCP programs? Microbiological testing allows one to check if the HACCP system is running properly. It helps in trends being tracked and products being monitored. Microbiological data alerts the user when production processes are not adequately controlled; it also verifies if prevention measures are being successful in decreasing the level of pathogens. 5. How can HACCP be built into distribution and retail? The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) seeks to work with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to develop federal standards on the safe handling of food products during storage, transportation, and distribution before they are delivered to retailers. Also, the FSIS and USFDA look to undertake a joint effort to guide retail stores on matters of food safety through the Food Code.

The process of HACCP is overwhelming and frustrating. There are so many steps, you don’t know where to start.

This article would be a good place. It provides you with a step-by-step guide to implementing a HACCP system that effective and easy to implement.

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Process HACCP: How to implement a restaurant HACCP plan

Looking to implement the 7 Principles of HACCP in your restaurant? Read CMX's guide to “Process HACCP,” a modified HACCP process built for purpose.

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (or HACCP) is a food safety system that focuses on potential food safety hazards occurring in the production flow. For many decades now, HACCP has been successfully applied in food processing facilities, helping manufacturers to produce safe food for their consumers.

While HACCP is required for most food processing companies; for restaurants, it’s voluntary. This, of course, doesn’t mean that it’s not important. This article explains how you can implement a modified ‘Process’ HACCP to fit your retail food business—protecting your customer’s safety as well as your brand’s reputation.

What is process HACCP?

Process HACCP is an approach that takes the same food safety principles that are mandatory for food processing companies and adapts them so that they’re applicable to retail food establishments. All the same principles are adhered to, but with slight modifications that enable you to implement them efficiently in your restaurant.

It’s no secret that food safety remains one of the biggest challenges in the food industry. But while food manufacturers have a time-tested HACCP system, it’s not the same case for restaurants. Fortunately, with Process HACCP, you can implement these same principles with slight modifications to suit your retail food establishment and enjoy the benefits.

How does it work?

Usually, when a food manufacturer sets up a HACCP plan , they look at the various food products they produce and then follow the steps that go into making that one product. Naturally, this becomes a lot more complicated for a restaurant that uses different food products to produce one final meal.

Because food service and retail food establishments have to deal with a wide range of products and menu items (each with its own process), it’s necessary to modify the traditional HACCP approach in order for it to be more usable. Instead of focusing on the end product, you apply the “process approach”, looking at the whole flow of food through your establishment – from receiving to sales.

So what do these processes look like?

Most establishments make use of one (or all) of the following food preparation processes:

• Receive – Store – Prepare – Hold – Serve. This process includes no cook step to kill potential illness-causing bacteria.
• Receive – Store – Prepare – Cook – Hold – Serve. This process includes a cooking step (sufficient to kill off potential pathogens), but food also moves through the danger zone (40°F and 140°F) once.
• Receive – Store – Prepare – Cook – Cool – Reheat – Hot Hold – Serve. This process includes multiple steps and foods move through the danger zone more than once.

Of course, these are only examples. Depending on your concept, other steps (like packaging and food delivery ) may be included before final consumption. For a fast-food restaurant, they may have a specific cook-serve process, with no holding step.

With such complicated processes and multiple menu items, it’s easy to see why a modified and specific Process HACCP approach is necessary for your restaurants. Instead of the arduous task of looking at every individual food product, you look at the process as a whole to identify potential food safety risks.

Free eBook: Transform your restaurant’s Food Safety System

The 7 principles of ‘process’ HACCP for restaurants

The 7 principles of HACCP are used to identify, evaluate, and control the chemical, biological, and physical food safety hazards within restaurants. Using a typical chicken cooking process (Receive – Store – Prepare – Cook – Hold – Serve) as an example, the principles will look like this:

1. Conduct a hazard analysis

You’ll want to start by listing any potential food safety hazards related to your menu with the potential to cause illness or injury to your customer if not effectively controlled.

For restaurants, this means creating a list of food safety hazards related to your menu. It also includes how the food is stored, prepared, and cooked (if applicable), and which equipment is used. Overlooking one potential hazard could render the entire HACCP plan ineffective, even if you adhere to it diligently.

Example: Raw chicken is prepared for same-day consumption. The potential food safety hazard is the risk of Salmonella bacteria if the chicken is not cooked properly. (a potential biological hazard).

2. Determine the critical control points (CCPs)

Next, identify the points where hazards could be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable level. While some processes form part of prerequisite programs (PRPs), critical control points are those processes where a control can be applied.

Restaurants should pay specific attention to food safety hazards that could lead to contamination (whether chemical, biological, physical). For each item on your menu, go through the food preparation process—from receiving raw materials to storage, and food preparation—and identify points where food safety is likely to be compromised.

Example: A critical control point could be where the raw chicken is cooked. The cooking step needs to be sufficient in order to destroy Salmonella or reduce the bacteria to a level safe for consumption.

3. Establish critical limits

Next, you’ll set the minimum and maximum CCPs necessary to maintain a safe environment and prevent, eliminate, or reduce food safety hazards to an acceptable level.

Critical limits must be based on scientific factors, guidelines, regulatory standards, experts, or experimental results and can include factors such as pH, temperature, humidity, salt concentration, etc.

Example: In order to kill Salmonella, raw chicken needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F for at least 15 seconds. The critical limit would therefore be 165°F for 15 seconds.

4. Establish monitoring procedures

Going forward, you’ll need to keep detailed records to ensure that the critical limits are adhered to. Ideally, the monitoring procedures are continuous and done electronically. Doing this will ensure increased accuracy, control, and visibility over the process as opposed to doing it intermittently and manually.

Monitoring a CCP is an important responsibility. Employees should be properly trained on the “why” and the “how”. Once employees understand the impact of food safety hazards (e.g., outbreaks, product recalls, business closure, job losses, etc.), they are more likely to get on board with the HACCP plan.

Example: In order to monitor the internal temperature of the chicken, a clean (and sanitized) temperature probe should be placed in the thickest part of the chicken meat to ensure that a temperature of 165°F was reached for at least 15 seconds.

5. Establish corrective actions

Inevitably, issues will arise. You will need to create and record corrective actions to mitigate discovered hazards.

When deviations do inevitably occur, it’s vital that corrective action be taken immediately:

• First determine the root cause of non-compliance and then correct it by demonstrating the CCP is once again under control (re-examine the process if needed);
• Establish the disposition of the product that is non-compliant;
• Document the corrective actions that are to be taken in response.

It’s crucial that you outline unique corrective actions for each CCP in advance, and list those in your HACCP plan. Instructions can include: What is to be done after a deviation happens; Who will be responsible for applying corrective actions; How and where the corrective actions will be documented. Example: If the internal temperature of the chicken did not meet the requirements, it should continue cooking until 165°F is reached for at least 15 seconds. This additional time should be recorded.

6. Establish verification procedures

To maintain consistency and safety, establish checklists, verification, and operational routines for each daypart and shift throughout the week to verify whether your HACCP system is working. Also, having the management team perform routine self-assessments helps gauge overall compliance with regulatory bodies and brand standards. This also ensures your restaurants are ready for an audit by the local health department.

Example: the shift manager needs to review the temperature logs to ensure that the critical limit was met every time.

7. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures

Document all efforts to maintain food safety and quality, including the initial hazard analysis, the HACCP plan, the assignments, roles, and duties, to the support documentation confirming the procedures were fulfilled.

It’s of vital importance to maintain proper records, particularly for auditing and inspection purposes. It allows you to keep track of raw materials, process operations, and finished products in your establishment. This will allow you to identify potential problem areas where deviations might occur.

Examples of documentation related to the chicken cooking process would include: temperature monitoring charts (including notes on deviations and corrective actions), and supplier invoices.

Digitizing Process with CMX1

When you consider the multitude of hazards and critical control points in your restaurants, coupled with the number of menu items, locations, and frequency of staff turnover you may have, you can see why digitizing your restaurant’s food safety and quality systems is a worthwhile investment.

But why go digital with CMX1?

Going digital with CMX1 will help you improve accountability, visibility, accuracy, and gain the oversight needed to ensure your customer’s safety and protect your brand’s reputation!

The CMX 1 platform enables your restaurant brand to completely transform all your HACCP-related procedures . You’ll benefit from the innovation and learnings we’ve gained from working with leading restaurant brands for more than 10 years running. Together, we can automate your restaurant operations —which ultimately impacts customer satisfaction, growth, and profits.

At CMX1 we’ve partnered with dozens of the leading restaurant brands , providing them with the digital tools and solutions they require ensuring quality, food safety, and consistency across the board.

If you want a digital partner that knows restaurant operations, look no further.

Reach out to the expert team here at CMX1 today.

Interested in more content like this? We would suggest:

The 7 principles of HACCP and how to successfully implement them

HACCP and Process HACCP: What It Takes for Food Manufacturers and Restaurant Brands to Ensure Food Safety

With Food Delivery, Who’s Responsible for Food Safety?

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in March 2021 and has since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.